Tag: diy

I’ve been redecorating my living room (and entire apartment tbh) and needed a new home bar set up. I’ve been using a bar cart for a few years, but I needed a better set up to store my liquor and glass collection. A bar cart wasn’t going to cut it anymore, so I went on a search for a cabinet. I’m no stranger to an IKEA hack, so I took a trip to IKEA and spotted the VALJE shelf and liked the size and set up of the shelves. It reminded me of some mid-century pieces I’ve seen in my vintage home decor magazines. It took about two minutes for me to figure out how I would transform it.

Paint. Quick and easy.

I didn’t take step by step photos because the process is really easy. All you have to do is spray paint the leg pieces gold and then put it all together by following the IKEA assembly instructions.

When it gets to the part where you insert the backboard, mark a line where the vertical shelves divide the board and then use paint to make the different colored squares. I got house paint samples in custom colors from Lowe’s and painted the cardboard side of the backboard with a few coats. Then insert the backboard and finish the remaining assembly instructions. If you already have this piece you can just carefully paint in the squares.

That’s it! Done!

I stocked it with liquor and filled the shelves with my favorite bar accessories and vintage glass collection.

I love the way it turned out! I used colors that would tie in with the colors used in the rest of the house. It’s one of the first things you seen when you enter my front door so I had to make sure it was good.

Are you ready for part one of my patio makeover? Do you remember what it looked like in my introduction to Melodramaville? Let me refresh your memory.

First we painted the floor a light gray because the orange color that was there before was peeling, was reflecting an ugly muddy orange color cast onto our interior white walls, and just generally didn’t fit in with my ideal vibe. I ended up painting the cinderblock as well for the same reasons.

But all of that and it still looked bad. I needed to find a solution to the industrial looking metal fence extender. I rent, so everything I do has to be put back to its original condition upon my leaving. Taking down the extension and replacing with something else wasn’t an option. Paint can be repainted, but this wasn’t negotiable.

They’re 20×20 inch faux boxwood panels that link together easily to cover all kinds of fences and walls. It was so easy to install and have been holding up well for months now, even in 120+ degree weather.

I also laid some realistic looking artificial grass down because I couldn’t keep grass alive or tidy in these areas. My dogs love it and looks great! Better than over grown or dead grass for sure.

And there it is! Part one of the patio makeover. Now I need to find furniture and more plants. Stay tuned!

In case you didn’t already know, July is National Ice Cream Month! To celebrate I’ve teamed up with Treetopia (who believe their trees don’t have to be limited to one holiday!) and five other bloggers to bring you sugary sweet ice cream themed holiday tree ideas.

What’s even sweeter? Treetopia is giving you the chance to win special treats through their social media giveaway, and brand ambassador, Jen Perkins’ Facebook live contest!

I finally did something I’ve been wanting to do for years, but didn’t feel like it was worth it in my last apartment. I installed bathroom wallpaper!

As you probably know I’m a renter, so many of my projects have to be temporary. That’s why I decided to look into peel and stick wallpaper options. There’s such a great selection out there, but when I found this botanical print from Tempaper I was smitten!

Turns out installing this type of wallpaper isn’t as daunting as it seems. The paper is super durable and forgiving, allowing you to adjust and re-position as needed to get everything lined up and perfect. This is great news because bathrooms can be especially tricky. Working your way around a toilet can be a big pain in the ass. No pun intended (zing!).

The first thing you need to do is measure your wall. By the way, Tempaper has a cool calculator that helps you determine how much paper you need. I only needed one roll for this wall and had some to spare. Please note that this kind of paper won’t adhere well to textured or matte walls. Eggshell, Semi-gloss, or gloss paint works best. Bathrooms usually have semi gloss paint, so you should be good.

Next, pre-cut the lengths you need. This makes your life so much easier. Be sure to line up the pattern with each new piece you cut.

Remove any toilet paper holders or towel racks that might get in the way. Outlets are fine, you can just use a razor to cut around them later.

I did this entire job alone because there’s just not enough room in my tiny bathroom for this to be a two person job. If you have room for help, it’ll make the job easier, but if its just you don’t worry, you can do it. As you can see I could barely fit the step ladder.

Now the real fun starts. The first piece is the trickiest because you need to get it on there straight, that way all the following pieces line up. Use the wall corner and ceiling (and a level if you have one) as your guide and you’ll be fine.

As you can see I didn’t measure or pre-cut the window section. Just simply go around when you’re done and trim around any windows, outlets, and edges with a razor blade. Just keep lining up each piece at the side seams and use a Tempaper squeegee to push out any air bubbles and smooth it out.

And that’s it! If you’re wondering how well this paper might hold up in a bathroom, I’ll just say I took a steamy shower about an hour after I was done and no seams or edges came away from the wall. The paper is also non-porous, so it seems it’ll hold up to moisture well.

I really love how much life it brings into this small room. I originally wanted to try to do the whole room, but I think the accent wall approach is actually perfect for in here.

I love pink and green together so I added pink and coral colored towels and rugs and a flamingo shower curtain.

Major mid-century Palm Springs vibes, right? Now I just need to find some art work and make a valance for that window (stay tuned for that) and it’ll be complete!

Special thanks to Tempaper for being kind enough to provide product for this project. As always, all opinions are genuine and my own.

Like this:

Have you ever found a vintage piece and hesitated to buy it because the brass or metal looks scratched, discolored, or tarnished? We all have! But don’t hesitate. Cleaning vintage metals is actually fairly easy, and totally worth it. In fact, you can save a lot of money by buying the more junky pieces and restoring them yourself at home.

I’ve seen some people just take a can of spray paint to pieces, and that’s fine if your metal is beyond repair but you still cant live without it, but most of the time that isn’t the case. Besides, you’ll never get a true shine like you would with real metal. Instead of reaching for the spray paint, reach for a rag and some polish and see what you reveal.

I got this set of 50s drawer pulls on Etsy for a really great price. At first glance they’re junk, but if you’ve ever restored metals you’d see the treasure underneath that tarnish and “scratches” immediately.

What you need is a metal polish product, like Brasso, and an old rag or two. Oh and some gloves.

Cover the brass in metal polish and rub into the metal.

Then use a soft cloth to buff and massage the metal, you’ll notice black and green residue coming off on your cloth. That’s the tarnish! Keep going.Keep polishing until there is no more residue coming off on to your cloth and the metal is sparkling new. Reapply more product if needed. This can take awhile depending on how tarnished your pieces are, but be patient.

Once all the tarnish is removed, give it a nice little polish with a clean cloth to remove any remaining residue or product.

The only thing that really bothered me about my new kitchen was the way the refrigerator looked in the space.

Now don’t get me wrong it’s a nice brand new refrigerator, but the way the side of it created a big black rectangle in in the middle of everything bothered me.

I bought a peel and stick wallpaper a couple of years ago with the intention of covering my old refrigerator, but never got around to it. Luckily I found the paper when I was unpacking and since I’m still renting I decided to put it to use!

I like the shape of the refrigerator door and I don’t mind the stainless, so I decided to only apply the wall paper to the sides and top to cover all the black. I was also inspired by the two-toned refrigerators that were popular back in the day.

All I had to do was pull out the refrigerator and apply the peel and stick the paper, carefully matching the seams and making sure to smooth out any air bubbles. This type of paper is very easy to work with and made the job extremely simple.

To finish off the edges I used a thin washi tape in the same color and similar pattern. This gave it a more finished look and helped make sure all of my edges were properly secured.

What an improvement! The refrigerator no longer stands out like a sore thumb and adds a nice subtle color and more retro flair to the space. It also gives it a nice smooth texture which makes it way easier to clean than the bumpy texture that it had before. I love it!

Now I’m going to use a different peel and stick wallpaper to cover that back wall as well. Stay tuned!

As I pack up each room for the move I’m reminded of how many faces each one has had over the years, and how we started out here with literally only an air mattress and a laptop. I worked hard to make this apartment feel like our own home and did every thing I could to personalize it within the limits allowed. In the beginning I worked with what I had and could afford, which wasn’t much, and slowly improved each room over the years and brought in new and better things to make it what it is today. I had fun doing it and I’m really proud of what I’ve done and been able to share with you all since the blog started.

I thought it would be fun to take a little look back through the years. Each rooms has looked even more different than what you’ll see below, but this is what I could find on my Instagram and photo archives.

The living room and dining room have always been the main focus. It’s where we spend the most time and really the only room people see when they come over. It started out with ugly paint and carpet (the floors were eventually changed by management) and eventually turned into a bright and spacious feeling room. It was even featured in Better Homes and Gardens!

As you can see I flipped the entire layout last year.

The dining room has had a few different lives too. Here are a couple of my favorites.

Even the front door got a makeover a couple of times!

And lastly, the bedroom. I went from garden grandma chic vibes to tropical resort vibes.

I’ve had a lot of fun living here and sprucing this place up, but I’m excited for something new!